PENGUIN CHA-CHA is my first book as both author and illustrator, so my process was very different than when I’ve illustrated manuscripts written by other authors.

Usually I receive a manuscript from a publisher, I read it over—that first read tickles the first glimpses of images into my head—and then I decide if that manuscript is one that I want to spend months illustrating.

Illustrating stories by other authors gives me a chance to illustrate ideas that I wouldn’t have had otherwise and brings variety to my work.

For example, in THE GOODBYE CANCER GARDEN, the author Janna Matthies wrote about a family growing a healthy vegetable garden as Mom recovered from cancer. It’s a powerful story of healing. Since I’ve never gone through something like that, I wouldn’t have thought to write that story, but Janna experienced a very similar cancer battle in her own life before writing this hope-filled story. As soon as I read that manuscript, I knew it would be an important book for many families. It was an honor to be able to illustrate it.

Another part of illustrating someone else’s manuscript is to add my own voice to the book through the illustrations. I need to figure out what to add to the story they’re telling, and that may mean showing things in the illustrations that the author never thought of. (That’s why publishers like to keep the authors and illustrators away from each other.)

In the picture book CORA COOKS PANCIT by Dorina K. Lazo Gilmore, Cora feels ignored at first by her family. To echo her feelings, I drew a little dog that follows Cora around wanting to play, so he brings her more and more toys on each page. Cora ignores him.

Just as Cora gets her happy ending, the dog gets his own happy ending when Cora finally plays with him. The dog wasn’t part of the text by the author. The dog is my own contribution to rounding out the story with the illustrations. Since parents are usually busy reading the words, they may not even notice the dog, but be assured that the kids who are hearing the story and studying the illustrations definitely notice that dog! Kids are master picture readers, so that’s always something I think about as I decide how to draw my half of the story in books written by someone else.

My process for PENGUIN CHA-CHA was different from the start because the illustration came first instead of the manuscript. Way back in 2007, I drew an illustration of penguins dancing. I used to be in a swing and Latin dance group and I liked penguins, so I decided to combine two things I liked to create a fun portfolio piece.

Around the same time I had tried my hand at writing my first picture book manuscripts about other subjects. I had a meeting with an editor and showed her my picture book manuscripts and also my portfolio. She remarked about how much more my face lit up when we got to the dancing penguin illustration than when I talked about my manuscripts!

So I realized I really needed to write about the things that make my face light up. Makes sense, right? So I wrote story after story about dancing penguins. It was much harder to write a wonderfully marketable picture book than I thought it would be! What remained constant were the dancing penguins, but the plots of the stories were all over the place. Those penguins danced for years as I figured out my story. I even licensed them out as wrapping paper at some point. I finally sorted out my story as it played as images in my head. I only wrote down the words that I felt were necessary and not shown in the illustrations. In the end, my editor at Random House asked me to add in a bit more text. I may be the only picture book author that’s happened to—usually they want to cut words!

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Writing my own books allows me the freedom to draw my favorite subject matter and favorite kinds of characters and things that make my face light up like dancing penguins. And the story usually starts with an image for me. Illustrating someone else’s manuscript brings more variety to my work and new experiences. So I love both!

Speaking of new experiences, I’m currently illustrating a picture book written by Danielle Steel called PRETTY MINNIE IN PARIS. For research, I visited Paris—what a lovely city to experience! The story combines Paris, a fashion runway show, a long-haired teacup Chihuahua, and a stylish little girl. Oh la la! Watch for PRETTY MINNIE in the fall of 2014.

Thanks, Kristi, for giving us a glimpse into your process!

PENGUIN CHA-CHA releases today! Happy Book Birthday, Kristi!

And lucky readers, Kristi is giving away a PENGUIN CHA-CHA prize pack! You’ll receive a signed book, magnet, bookmark and sticker! Just leave a comment below by September 5th to enter, and if you’d like to ask Kristi a question, you can do so there, too.

A powerful message that really struck a cord…do the things that make your face light up….it reminds me of a quote by the poet Rumi, “When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy.”

Kristi, this was such fun to get to read about some of your journey and process. As you know, I’ve adored your illustrations for years–ever since first seeing your avatar on the BlueBoard. And I remember your penguin portfolio piece from the Midsouth conference contest. It’s so exciting that this penguin book has become a reality at last!! Huge congratulations! And your book trailer is a delight–just as I’m sure the book is..Hugs, Ev

I love the dancing penguins. We went to a dancing party last night where my granddaughter and her partner, both teachers of ballroom dancing, received cheers and applause for their waltz. The penguins are doing very well in their dancing experience.

I love the energetic illustrations, they remind me of my days as a teenager when I was trying to master the cha-cha and other ball room dancing.
Q: did you study live dancers to get the right and energetic movements on paper?

I used to compete and perform in swing, Latin, and ballroom dance, so a lot of the dance movements came from my own experience and twirling around in my studio. I also studied lots of photos of dancers, but drawing from photos usually results in stiff drawing for me. Back in art school, one of my classes visited a professional ballet studio during rehearsals. Incredible!

I attended the SCBWI Summer Conference where Andrea Pinkney (Scholastic) mentioned how important it is for writers and artists to find their spark. You have found yours! Congratulations! I have great-nieces who will love this book!

Congratulations on your book birthday! I LOVE the dancing penguins! I will be keeping my eyes open for your book; my brother and sister-in-law are ballroom dance teachers and this would be a great gift for them! They will love it! I am encouraged by your comment about writing that which lights up your face~helps me to know I’m on the right track with my story. Thanks for sharing your journey. Rene` Diane Aube

Sorry, Pia, I don’t think the wrapping paper is for sale anymore. I had only licensed it for one manufacturing year, and I doubt there’s any still around since that was years ago. Thanks for the comments!

I really enjoyed reading about your writing/illustrating process; thank you for sharing, Kristi. Congratulations on Penguin Cha-Cha – I know a kiddo (and her ballroom dancing dad) who would love this book.

Fabulous, wonderful and incredible. You’re thoughts on illustrating books for others VS your own book resonates with me. Love your penguins, love the trailer and I am sure to love the book. Congratulations.

This is really helpful, as I often think that if I had a superpower, it would be able to write AND illustrate children’s books! Sharing your process really helps me understand how to best write a story, and to “let go” when the illustrator receives it–to be able to be excited and open to what the illustrator is going to contribute. Alas, I am not published yet, and no contracts in sights, but what a great contribution to my journey. Thanks also for sharing the perspective of the child!

I love this post! Congratulations and good luck with the penguins. Was the Danielle Steele book just an excuse to go to Paris? Or was it necessary research? Did you go to a runway show while you were there. Or ever?

The Danielle Steel book was an excellent excuse to go to Paris! But I truly wanted to experience Paris firsthand to draw it in such a high profile book. There are a lot of small visual differences between Paris and US cities and I want to get those details right. I also visited Danielle and her sweet dog who inspired the story at their apartment. I didn’t go to a runway show – those are extremely hard to get in to and not during my visit. Maybe someday. :)

Awesome book trailer!
Cha Cha was the name on my hockey jersey once upon a time and penguins are cool so I have a soft spot in my heart for your book without having read it. Looking forward to it.
Question: what was your original word count and where did you end up after adding?
Question: Presumably much of your story was in your pictures so what would you say was the main reason for needing more words in specific spots?
Thanks and congratulations.

I’m a “Cover Girl” and this is one book I’d grab off the shelf! The title’s font is perfect, too! What gorgeous, lively, appealing work! :D And the premise!

Kristi, I write and illustrate, too (aspiring), only I typically write first, then illustrate my own work. As you know, picture books are the marriage of words and pictures and they need to complement each other, not repeat. I’m sure that, even the authors out there who don’t illustrate, are more drawn to picture books in which the pictures have an added feature or sub plot going on.

Write about the things that make your face light up – I love that!! My homework today is going to be to make a list of such things. Thanks so much for this post. I enjoyed “meeting” Kristi and being introduced to her work.

My thought on that would be more that the story itself—the backstory, characters, etc.—weren’t fleshed out enough when actually writing the story, too. But the thing that differs between authors and author/illustrators is that when you do both, your vision of how they play off each other is generally clearer in the writing process, right?

I’m a dear friend of Dorina (Cora Cooks Pancit) and was so blown away (with her) at how perfectly your art captured her story. That was a successful match if I ever saw one! Now I live 3 hours away from Paris (in Germany) and it would’ve been fun to meet you there! Did you get to Shakespeare and Company? Anyway, excited about both of your new books. Congrats! :)

Dorina is such an amazing, sweet, book sister! I visited the outside of Shakespeare and Co a couple times during our Paris visit, but it wasn’t open and then a poetry reading prevented us from getting inside. I’ll just have to visit again!

Entertaining read Kristi, thank you and warm congratulations on your ‘solo’ effort.
Thank you also for the ‘tip’ of ‘The Goodbye Cancer Garden.’
We have a good friend who is currently battling this insidious curse, so this gem of a book would make a perfect gift for her young son.
My own daughter adores penguins, so ‘Cha-Cha’ will be a ‘Go-Go!’
Wishing you continued success…
Boo Stad.

Thank you- I loved hearing the differences between illustrating for you and others, and how you gain both ways. I loved how ideas can sit and evolve for a long time till they feel right… thanks for sharing your process. Your penguins are awesome. Also the Minnie book sounds really exciting and fun- Paris!!

Hi Kristi, Your book looks terrific, and so is the trailer and insights you shared! I caught a glimpse of the book at the Wild Wild Midwest Conference and met you there also. All the best with this book and with Pretty MInnie in Paris.

What image could better bring on a smile than ordinarily stumbly penguins gracefully leaping and twirling in joyous dance! Beautiful, can’t wait to see this book!
I have a dream in the opposite direction…going from a writer to a writer-illustrator. Do you think, Kristi, that one ‘direction’ might be more difficult than the other?

I’ve heard of a lot more people going from illustrator to author-illustrator, so I would guess not starting off with art training would make it harder to jump into that boat later. But it is possible – look up Debbie Ohi and her journey going from writer to writer-illustrator.

Hi Kristi, :) A BIG Congratulations to you on Penguin Cha-Cha! :) I loved reading about your creative process, and how you create a story with the images when you collaborate with an author. Adding the dog to Cora Cooks Pancit seemed to add another emotional level – all without saying a word. Your story of how your love of the dancing penguins led to your own picture book was very inspiring and it sounds like a very charming picture book.

I have a question about keeping the illustrator in mind – when your manuscript hasn’t found that publishing home yet. Do you think notes for the illustrator are helpful or just pesky? How can a picture book writer prepare for this team element of working on a book and be the most helpful to the illustrator?

My other question is about illustrating picture books. I started as an art major in college but changed my major to english. The last art class I took, someone said my style would be good for picture books. I know it would take a lot of work, but wonder how someone would take those first steps toward looking at being an illustrator, to see if they can do it. What do you do? What would you recommend?

Thanks, Abby! Most publishers (and illustrators) prefer no illustration notes unless there’s something in the text that won’t make sense without knowing what is happening in the illustration. To help your illustrator the most, leave space for the illustrator to have fun. For example, the text might say, “His tuba caused loads of trouble in the library.” Let the illustrator draw that scene and figure out the trouble being caused.
First steps for illustrating picture books would be to read lots and lots of recent ones in the bookstores and study the illustrations. There are online classes you can take to help you get portfolio pieces ready. Or you could jump in with your own and get a portfolio critique at an SCBWI conference. I have a blog post on creating postcard mailers: http://kristivaliant.blogspot.com/2012/11/sending-art-promotional-postcards-to.html
Hope that all helps!